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Saturday 13 December 2014

Anything But a Card with The Cuties!

Hello there and thank you so much for visiting me today....hope you are fine and well.
 
Despite the fact that I've had the last four days off from work, I've not actually stopped, and this is the first time I've had chance to sit down and do this post for the new Cutie Pie challenge. For this, our last challenge of the year, we would like to see your makes with "anything but a card"......and for my own project I really wanted to focus on what this time of year means to me, as well as all of the running around, weeks of preparation, card writing, pressie wrapping and then opening, the food and family time!
 
 
 
Our challenge is sponsored by the wonderful
 http://www.bugaboostamps.com/
 who have been generous in giving us some adorable images to play with, which as you can see, I've used on my dt project.

also, as a special Christmas Treat we welcome

http://www.flourishwithabling.com.au/store/

who will be offering this wonderful prize for a randomly drawn winner.
 
To create my own effort, which is now hanging from my own Christmas tree, I coloured image with promarkers, and freehand created this little stable, having embossed the card stock with an Cuttlebug folder to give it a more woody look,, the star is an Xcut die.
 
My super talented DT have also been busy with some amazing makes, so please hop over to have a peep, and why not join in too!

Tuesday 18 November 2014

I'd Rather Be Blogging #1

Hello there! Hope the week has started well for you.......so after my lovely relaxing week off, it was back to work yesterday morning. I woke up at about 3:40 and I was very aware of the fact that I only had an hour till my alarm would go off, so I never really got back to sleep..........,this may well be the reason that at 7:40 am this morning I was woken by a phone ringing and my boss on the other end asking if I was ok - I have never, ever, ever overslept and I'll tell you what, I do feel rough today!!!! Nice soak in the tub and an early night, tonight, me thinks!
 
Anyway, after being able to do a lot more blogging last week, I have decided to try and get in at least one post a week as my "I'd rather be blogging" time!
 
I have a wee card to share today..........and this is my absolute bargain stamp that I purchased in The Works for the princely sum of £1, yep one whole squiddley!
 
It is from the Helz Cuppleditch Special Delivery range that was out a couple of years ago.......I think this puss cat is a sweetie. 

Image coloured with promarkers, and layered onto a yummy Dovecraft dotty green paper. Bow and Card candi from stash.

I would like to enter this into:
polkadoodles - 2014/11- week-46,clean and simple
A Little Bit Crafty - Clean and Simple
crafty catz - Christmas is coming


thanks again for visiting me, I think its time for another cuppa for me......so I will catch up with you soon xx

Saturday 15 November 2014

MY 500 POST FREEBIE

It was only a couple of days ago, when I noticed on my blogger dashboard that I was up to post #498, so I decided I wanted to do something to mark the 500 post milestone, we all love a bit of blog candy but there can only be one winner, so I decided to put together a little sentiment, which you are all very welcome to help yourselves too, to say Thank You so very much to you all..........
I feel very blessed to have you following my little blog and in doing so being part of my life, your comments are always so very much appreciated and have inspired me and in many times comforted me during difficult times.
 
So.................thanks, hugs and here's to the next 500!
 
 
 

Friday 14 November 2014

An Oldie But Goodie and very Much a Cutie

Hello there, and thank you so much for visiting me again......I've had such a lovely week off and its been wonderful to be able to blog so regularly too, when I'm back to work next week, I wont be able to manage such frequency but I am determined to be a better blogger!
 
Its a real wet and dreary day here in Kent, so the planned "leisurely walk in the woods" with the dogs changed to a "quick run around the park" and now they are napping and I'm here!! I took my Mum out yesterday afternoon, for a visit to The Range which is situated at a nice little outlet centre and a very pleasant time was had.......did have a wee spend too, so will be having a little play with my new stamps and bits later.
 
So, I do have a card to share and as much as I love the traditional Greens and Reds for Christmas cards, sometimes I look for alternatives, so for this card I've used, what I refer to as, my Peppermint Aero colour combi (its actually Mint Green and Sandstone Promarkers - but you know what I mean)
For my image I went back to an old favourite of mine called, Millie....with snowball, which goes back to when Digi Stamp boutique were Grab-a-doodle-do, I think she is a real sweetie and I look forward to "dusting her off" every year. Kept it fairly simple here, using a Cuttlebug Snowflake Embossing folder, a bit of Frosted Lace stickles to give the snowball some texture, added pearls and mini rik-rak.
 
I would like to enter this into:
 
Thanks again for popping in, hope you have a lovely day ahead xx
 
 

Thursday 13 November 2014

Tagged!

Good Morning, here I am again!
 
So, the very first DT that I worked on was Aud Sentiments challenge, I had a wonderful time there, and learned a lot and I still like to pop in to check out their challenges - even if time doesn't allow me to always take part, however this week I do have the time and Yay, its a lovely theme too......so here is my Sentiment on a Tag card:
 
The papers are from a Dovecraft Christmas stack, which I've been using a lot this year, I have also used my Xcut scalloped edge border punch, the tag is cut with a Sizzex orginal big die (one of the very first that I owned!). Doily, ribbon and ribbon slider from stash and sentiment my own creation.
 
 
Aside from a crafting time, whilst I've been off I've also rearranged the bedroom furniture and blitzed the house with the steam cleaner. Off for a mooch around the shops later - enjoy your day whatever you get up to................
 
I would also like to enter this into:
reasonable ribbon - winter/holiday
 
 


Wednesday 12 November 2014

A little something for a Wednesday

Good Morning to you, hope you are well. It seems ages since I last accomplished this many posts in such a few days, however, I am currently enjoying a few days off from work and coincidently my hubby is staying with his daughter in Scotland until next week....so a well earned rest for me!
 
I do have a little card to share with you all.......
This cute little peeping bear is coloured with promarkers, and have used Go Kreate dies here. The embossing folder is from Embossilicious, also added card candi. Just a simple little card, but I hope you like!

 

Monday 10 November 2014

The Cuties Get Festive and Furry!

Hello there, Me again! Hope the week has got off to a good start......as its the second Monday in the month its time for a new
and our theme this time is
Festive Furry Friends
So we want to see lots of super cute Christmas cards featuring the cutest furry creatures......sounds fun, why not click above to join in and check out the stunning DT cards.
 
Our lovely friends at

and also 
 
are sponsoring us this time and each offering a fab prizes. Meljens were  generous enough to give us some adorable images to play with - I couldn't resist this adorable Bunny for my own card!
I have coloured with Promarkers, and I believe the papers are from a Dovecraft stack, the snowflake is a Marianne creatables die and the flowers and button came from The Works.
 
I would like to enter these challenges:
 
 
thanks again for visiting today xx
 

Sunday 9 November 2014

On a Sunny Sunday!

Well so much for my plans yesterday! I had intended to spend the afternoon at the craft desk, but a desperate phone call mid afternoon from my boss scuppered that! She had been let down at work by a couple of people phoning in sick, and knowing that I would be dropping Megan off for her shift (She has recently started a little Saturday job at my  store) She asked if I could help out for a couple of hours. Well, Nat was really good to me with time off when my hubby was in hospital so I couldn't really say no and that was that.
 
I did managed to do some colouring and make two cards, so it wasn't so bad, here is one of my makes......
This Heather Ellis image is always a "go to" of mine for girly Christmas cards. She is coloured with Promarkers. The papers are from two different Papermania stacks and mounted onto kraft. Ribbon, Lace and Pearls added from stash.

Here is Kent its a lovely sunny afternoon, so will be off out for a walk with the dogs soon, and then off to visit my parents.......hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend xx

I would like to enter this into:
i love promarkers - cute Christmas
crafty ribbons - Christmas Creation using ribbon


 

Saturday 8 November 2014

wishing you all a restful weekend!

Hello there, and thanks for visiting me today, hope your weekend has started well. I have mentioned this before here, but earlier in the year my working times were changed from a 9am start to a 7am start, now I'm pretty much used to it but my body clock is set to wake at 5:30 am.....even on the weekend, so I have already been out and done my weekly food shopping, got one load of washing done and a reasonable amount of housework done too, I'm just on a tea break now, but with all the mundane stuff done I'm looking forward to a cheeky crafternoon!
 
I decided yesterday to treat myself to a few new digi's and headed straight for Digi Stamp boutique as they have been a fave of mine, right back to the days of Grab-a-doodle do, no less! I thought that Snoozing Louie would be prefect for my hubby's birthday card from the kids.....although I must confess that after my early starts this is often how I am to be found, come the afternoon, hehehe....

 He is coloured with Promarkers, the papers are from a Papermania stack and the button and twine are from stash, oh and the sentiment is my own work using a font called "where the stars shine the brightest"

I would like to enter this into:
digistamp boutique - November-14- customer-competition
cute card thursday - stripes
Passion for Promarkers - Inspired by a Beatles Song (Hard Days Night)
sweet stamps - stripes

thanks again for popping in xx 

Friday 7 November 2014

The Tower of London Remembers

Hello there, and thank you so much for visiting me today.....hope you've had a good week.
 
So I was lucky enough this Wednesday to have the opportunity to go to London with my Mum and daughter for a bit of shopping and sightseeing, but mostly to view the Poppies at The Tower.
If you've not been yourself, its quite a spectacle to behold, and as we left tower hill station and walked down to the tower and got our first glimpse of this sea of red, it was breath taking. Despite the crowds I found it very peaceful there, but still felt very emotional when you stop and think that each of these ceramic poppies (and there are over 800 thousand of them!) represent a life lost. if you have the opportunity to visit in the next few days, I strongly recommend - I feel very privileged to share this photo's with you all
 
 


 
Don't get chance to get to London very often, so we followed this with a visit to the Science Museum (Meg's choice), and a lovely walk through Hyde Park up to Marble Arch for a mooch around the shops at that end of Oxford St, before our weary little legs took us home.

Sunday 2 November 2014

A Few Piccies....

Hello there, hope you're having a lovely weekend. Just a quick post now to share with you all, some of the items that I had made for the craft fair that we did yesterday. We sold a reasonable amount of our items, so there is a few pennies in the pot for some crafty spending!
 
 Decorated Candles


Reindeer Food (above and below)
We have done this event for quite a few years now and people come looking for us as and our Reindeer food!



 Dog and Cat Christmas Treats
 
 Marshmallow Snowmen
 

  1. Reindeer Poo!
We also had cards and various knitted items that my mother makes.
 
Good luck and happy selling to any of you that have events coming up

Sunday 26 October 2014

A very Krafty Weekend

Hello there and thank you for visiting me today, hope you are having a lovely weekend and hopefully feeling the benefit of an extra hour, with the clocks going back last night. I an doing a craft fair next weekend, so I've been a busy bee getting bits done for that (will add photo's later in the week) and trying to make sure that I've got a reasonable supply of cards to have with me.
 
I recently purchased this adorable LOTV stamp, Festive Post, and it has been used several times in my makes for next weekend......
 
I have coloured with the old faithful promarkers, the paper came from a Papermania stack, sentiment created using Zitpy-do font and doily, button and twine from stash.

I would like to enter this card into these challenges:
passion for promarkers - lets get krafty
allsorts challenge - Christmas
simon says stamp...wednesdaychallenge - use Kraft
LOTV ideas to inspire - anything goes


Once again, thanks and hugs for visiting me today.....I always appreciate it and look forward to visiting you xx

Monday 20 October 2014

Perfecty Purple and Completely Cutie!

Hello, there my lovely blogfriends! Have had sooo many pc issues over the last couple of weeks ago, I was beginning to think that I would never get this post done, but in the absence of my own pc at the moment, I have managed to revive my daughters old one and I'm delighted to be here!
 
So this post is all about the latest Cutie Pie challenge, if you haven't already been over and checked out the latest challenge in the last week, then you may not know that we have now changed from being a fortnightly challenge to a monthly challenge.....such was the work load and trying to fit it with real life stuff like work and family. We have a lovely theme running for this challenge and that is
Perfectly Purple and Completely Cute
 
We are lucky enough to be sponsored by our lovely friends at
 
and Janet was kind enough to provide us with a super cute image to use for this challenge.
I have coloured my image with promarkers, and just a little stickles to make the fluffy bits look fluffy. The papers are both magazine freebie downloads that I played with using Serif to get the lovely purples, and added my own sentiment using Zipty do font. The gingham ribbon came from The Range and the lace from The works, also used the wonderful MB mittons die which first I coloured and was then just going to go round the edge with my white gel pen, but I got a little carried away!
My wonderful DT girls have made some amazing cards for this challenge, so hop on over for a look and to join in with the fun.
 
I do apologise that I've not been able to do any blog visiting, technology permitting I will try to make ammends
 

Wednesday 1 October 2014

Celebrating Three years of Cuteness!

Hello there and thanks for visiting me today, hope your week is going well. So on Monday we started a new Cutie Pie challenge, and its an exciting one for us as its our Third birthday!!! I have been lucky enough to be part of this team since the beginning, and lucky enough even more so, to be the DT lead. We have a fab challenge this time, based on using Three's of things, we have some fab sponsors offering some great prizes,
My Mum's Craft Shop
£10 voucher as a prize

Prize:  4 images of choice for the winner

http://www.craftyribbons.com/

 and we have some stunning creations from our soooo talented DT, so why not hope over and join in the fun! How many Three's do you think you could use on a card???
 
 
For my own DT card I have used an adorable image that our lovely friends at Just Some Lines, gave us to play with.........
She is coloured with promarkers (with Three main colours), the papers are from Papermania Capsule Collection (I have used Three different papers) The Three worded sentiment is my own creation and the Three pearls, Three flowers and Three card candi blobs all from stash..........Loving this image, as I ran a week of Coffee Mornings in aid of Macmillan Cancer Charity at work last week, and after that and eating soooo many naughties, this is the only type of biccie I can cope with, lol!
 
I would like to enter this card into:
i love promarkers - winter birthdays (warm birthday wishes, sentiment)
 
thanks again for stopping by, sending big hugs xx
 
 
 
 

Saturday 20 September 2014

Sweet and Simple on Saturday!

Hello and thanks for stopping by today, hope you're enjoying your weekend.....I'm off out this afternoon to by new shoes for work, never a task I enjoy, but needs must!
 
Somehow, this week I've managed to squeeze in some crafting time, Yay! I have a few creations, that will hopefully find there way on here in the coming days.
First up, is this little creation.......
 
I am still working my way through the LOTV art pads that I got last Christmas, and that is where this little sweetie comes from. She is coloured with promarkers, and given the necessary sparkle with Stickles Star dust glitter glue. Button from local haberdashery and twine from dovecraft.
 
You might also notice my new watermark at the top there, I've been beavering away making similar for the Cutie Pie team, now I don't profess to be some sort of graphic whizz kid, but I found these relatively easy to create, if you'd like me to make you something similar, please feel free to email me.
 
I would like to enter these challenges:
Less is More - Face the Music and Dance, you can tell by that little leg kick that she is shaking her stuff!!!
 
Righty-ho, better get myself moving, will catch up with you all later xx

Wednesday 17 September 2014

Snuggle up with the Cutie Pies

               Hello, thanks for visiting me today...hope you're having a great week so far. So, I leave my house to go to work at 6:45am (yep, its a bad as it sounds!) every morning and the damp. fogginess for the last few days is definitely telling me that we are now in Autumn......but there is still a lot to enjoy this time of year......lovely walks in the woods with the dogs on a bright afternoon, and if its not such a bright afternoon then spending some time at my craft desk without feeling like I should be pottering around the garden! Another lovely thing this time of year, is the warm, cosy colours and that is the theme this time, with
                                 THE CUTIE PIE CHALLENGE                         
 
 
We want to see your super cute cards featuring lovely shades of Autumn,
For my own DT card I dug out this little sweetie from Hanglar & Stanglar, and coloured her with promarkers. When I was out, weeks ago buying school stationary supplies for my kids, I foundsome fab subject dividers in Wilko's and I thought they would make a fab Kraft-like card stock. I had intended to trim off the edge with the holdes, but then I thought it added a quirk look!
The papers are oldies from stash, I also added lace, doily, buttons, string and sentiment.
 
Our challenge is sponsored by the wonderful
http://www.bugaboostamps.com/

So, thank you to them!
 
So, why not hop over, check out the other amazing DT cards and join in too!
 
I would also like to enter this card into:
 
thanks and hugs for visiting xx
 
 

Wednesday 10 September 2014

James is Candle-tastic!

Hello there, hope you're having a good week, hasn't the weather been a lovely treat over the last few days, so nice to enjoy a little autumn sunshine!
 
A couple of weeks ago, I spotted some very reasonably priced pillar candles, and it occurred to me that I've not indulged in any candle decorating for absolutely ages, so I purchased said candles and went home to dig out the heat gun.
If you've not had a go at this before, I highly recommend you try.......so basically we have an image stamped onto tissue paper, which I've coloured with promarkers (best to stick with quite bold shades, I find), the images is cut out and placed onto candle. You will need baking paper wrapped around the candle and image and then warm up your heat gun and watch the image "melt" into the candle - a little bit of magic, methinks - there is a much more informative tutorial here. In case you were wondering, this super cute bear is James from LOTV.

Hope you likey......I am planning on making more Christmassy themed ones, so watch this space and let me know if you have a go!

my time to craft - teddy bears picnic
dragons lair designs - anything but a card


 

Thursday 4 September 2014

Two's Company with the Cuties....and news of a DT call too!

Hello there, and thank you for visiting! Hope your week is going well for you! It has been a busy past couple of weeks, back at work and looking after my "invalid". He is slowly "getting there"!! My boy was back at school today and Megan goes back tomorrow to start A levels!
 
So, back to the reason for the post and its time for a new
our theme this time is Two's Company and we are looking for super cute cards with two images together or one image with two characters......we were lucky enough to be given some adorable images from our lovely sponsors to play with............which I've used here:
Image coloured with promarkers and paper pieced, the papers are once again from papermania eau de nil! The sentiment is my own using zipty-do font. The border is cut with a Martha Stewart punch, and the flowers are a very old woodware punch - always nice to use some old faves. Also used a Joycraft Ivy die and some sticky pearls.
 
As I said the image is from our lovely sponsors
 http://craftysentimentsdesigns.co.uk/
thank you!

We are also running a DT call with this challenge, so why not hop on over and have a look!
 
I would also like to enter this into:

Saturday 23 August 2014

Hello there from One Happy Mum!

Good Morning, and thank you so much for visiting today.....hope the sun is shining, where you are and you are having a lovely weekend so far! So I've been back to work this week, its been busy but not so bad, and its nice to spend time with my lovely work friends.  Hubby hasn't had too bad a week, and is recovering slowly, but well. My very good news for you is that my wonderful daughter, Megan, got her GCSE results on Thursday and I am delighted to share that she got 8A's (to go with the 2A's that she got last year) and 2B's....to say we are incredibly proud of her is an understatement! We had already treated her to a new laptop as a "Well Done for working so hard" treat, but I have the feeling that a few more congratulations-type gifts will be popping up too, lol....we will wait until the old chap is feeling better, then have a nice meal out to celebrate, both!
 
So, I do have a card to share....and once again I went for the eau du nil papers, I just adore them! At the moment The Glitter Pot have free p&p, so after weeks of longing for them, I treated myself to the Wild Rose set of these papers......oooh they are yummy and you'll be seeing them here a lot, methinks.
The sentiment is one of my own creations, using Zitpy-do and Dancing script fonts, for the embellies I used a few oldies here....the flowers are cut with a woodware punch that I've had almost as long as I've been doing this stuff, the wee white and teal brads I've had for ages too, and the same with the lace. Its always nice to have a root around in your older stash, you're going to look at some of it and wonder what on earth you were thinking of when you bought it....but sometime you find some real treats!

Thanks for visiting me today......enjoy the weekend!

Hugs from me xx

Monday 18 August 2014

Buttons, Bows and a whole lotta cuteness!

Ok, so here's a question - is there anything worse in the world than the first day back at work after a couple weeks off - nope, thought not! But that's what my day holds for me...even though the last two weeks has been all about running around looking after the old fella, washing out his commode pot in the mornings, trying to avoid pot holes if I've taken him out in the wheelchair, and generally lots of pillow plumping.....but at least I've been able to fall out of bed at a more sociable hour than 5am, but hey-ho!
Anyway, Monday it is and its time for a new
and this time its all about
 BUTTONS & BOWS
We are lucky enough this time to be sponsored by our lovely friends at
http://www.craftyribbons.com/
who are offering a fab prize, so its well worth clicking the link, joining in the fun and checking out the other wonderful DT cards for inspiration!

For my own DT card I plumped for another  of the stamps that my lovely hubby got for my birthday...this time its Albie the Cotton Rabbit from Sugar Nellie. Isn't he a sweetie, I do have a fondness for animals in knitwear! He is coloured with promarkers, and image is mounted on a Nellie snellen die cut.  The paper is from a brambly hedge stack. Also used: Ribbon, Rik Rak, twine and buttons.

I would like to enter this into:

thank you so much for visiting today.....



Monday 11 August 2014

Happy Monday!

Hi there to you all, hope you've had a lovely weekend....and managed to keep dry with the awful rain that we had yesterday....I did venture out with the dogs in the afternoon and got caught in a downpour (but actually it was great excuse to throw my Jim-Jams back on when we got home!)
 
I have the next week off from work, and usually this time of year we would be visiting my hubby's family and staying in Lossiemouth in the North of Scotland, however, looking at the weather there at the moment its maybe just as well that hubby went into hospital instead (every cloud and all that!), speaking of the old chap, he has had a restful weekend - emphasis on the "he has" - for me, its kind of like having a new baby at home! When he was napping yesterday I did manage to get a little bit of me and my craft desk time....and this was the outcome:
This stamp is from Sugar Nellie and was part of a birthday pressie bundle that my hubby bought me when he went and visited his family in Scotland, prior to his op, and paid a wee visit to The Papercraft Boutique in Elgin (which is the retail store of Funky Kits). The image is coloured with the promarkers and a dollop of glossy accents on the balloons. I think the paper was a download from Raspberry Road, but I'm not certain, I used a cuttlebug embossing folder to create the border and them added gingham ribbon. The die is from Memory Box, and button and pearls from stash.
 
I needed a little something to give my mojo a prod and I found this fab sketch to follow:
from the current sketch and stash challenge, which I would like to enter.
 
I also based the Lavender and Ivory colour scheme on this photo inspiration from:
sweet stampin challenge (please feel free to disregard my entry if it isn't close enough to the brief)
 
thank you for visiting me today....have a great week xx
 
 

Wednesday 6 August 2014

Picnic Time wth The Cuties......and a further hubby update!

Hello blogland....if any of you are still with me! The last month has been such a chaotic time for me, and the only time I've been getting to blog is either spent doing DT stuff or challenge posts, I do apologise that I've not done any blog visiting, I will try to catch up with you all in the fullness of time! Anyway, the main reason for this post is to tell you all about the Cutie Pie challenge, that started on Monday.....we have a fab theme this time that is:
Teddy Bears Picnic
so why not grab a bear, a nice tartan blanket and some sandwiches and join us.......or you could just click the above link, check out the wonderful cards our DT have made this time and join in the fun,
 
For my own DT card, I have used this adorable LOTV stamp
Image coloured with promarkers.
The sentiment created using Zipty-do font.
Marianne Creatables die used for flower.
Button from The Range
Paper is an oldie from stash (soooo pretty!!!)
Ribbon from Asda.
 
 
 
Our challenge is sponsored by:
who are offering a fab prize to our chosen winner, and we are lucky enough to have a second sponsor this time:

who are offering some amazing digi stamp prizes to our randomly chosen winner.....so lots to play for!
 
I just haven't had the time to think about entering challenges for a few weeks, but I thought I'd give a couple a go...
sweet stampin - bingo straight down the middle
 
 
 
Finally, Just wanted to let you know that my hubby was discharged from hospital last Wednesday, since my last post he had had a bit of a rough time of it as his wound became infected and had to be partially reopened, the anti-b's disagreed with him and he suffered chronic diaorrhea for five days, which in turn caused his potassium levels to hit the floor causing him to become very confused and suffer hallucinations.....but these wobbles got sorted and the agreed to let him come home. We have a nurse in to him every other day to change his wound dressing, we had to have the Dr out to him on Monday as he had picked up a water infection that we making him feel even more poorly, so its slow progress, but every day he is feeling a little bit better........we would both like to say Thank you so much for the kind and supportive message, they have been really encouraging to read on the "down" days, and its so nice to be able to share a bit of happier news now.

Monday 21 July 2014

Love, Marriage and an update on my hubby!

Hi there, hope you've had a lovely weekend, this is just a really quick post to let you know that it's time for a new challenge with the The Cutie Pies, our theme this time is all about LOVE & MARRIAGE, we would love to have you joining us for this, so click the link and check out the other amazing DT cards and details of our fabby prize. 

Kept it fairly simple for my own effort, using a super cute image from Birdie Brown.
 
 




Apologies for the short post here, but as you can imagine my blogging time is somewhat limited at the moment......anyway, my hubby went in on Monday for his op, he was terrified so it was quite an emotional morning (and just to add to my stress our flipping car broke down as I was driving home from the hospital, but that's a whole other story) but the op itself went well despite a couple of blips (it took two hours just to cut him open due to previous scar tissue and adhesions) and he had a major bleed too, but hubby had continued to make steady progress in his recovery,  and over the week moved from ICU down to high dependancy ward and then on Friday to a regular ward. They've had him up and walking about and most of his wound is drying well, the lower areas have been oozing, so they've been using various dressings and equipment to help it along. I've been a bit concerned since he moved to the ward as it is extremely warm and stuffy and he seems to be feeling more hot and bothered, when I was in last night his temperature was raised so they were going to take some bloods to check for infection, but to me he just looks dehydrated.....apparently he lost 11 litres of fluid during the op, and although he's had a couple of blood transfusions and had fluid on an IV drip for a couple of days I think maybe that's what he needs, anyway, I'll be back there this afternoon and hopefully he'll be a bit brighter.
 

Monday 7 July 2014

CUTIES AND DIGI'S!

Hello there, and thank you so much for stopping by here today, hope you've had a great weekend. Thank you also for the kind and supportive comments on yesterdays post too xx
 
Soooo, its Monday and time for a new challenge with
Our theme this time is.......
USE A DIGI
I have been a huge digi stamps fan for such a long time, so this was right up my street!

http://www.2cuteink.com/
are sponsoring this challenge, and very kindly gave our DT some gorgeous images to play with, however thanks to my son and his love of world cup wall chart's (don't ask!!) I was left inkless, so I rummaged through my box and this adorable Wee Stamps image was an easy choice!

Image coloured with promarkers
Papers: stack from The Works
Embellishments: lace from The Works. Ribbon and Pearls from stash.
dies: Nellie Snellen die used from corners.

We would love to have you joining in with this challenge, so click the link at the top!

I would also like to enter this into:
crafty little fairies - Summer Fun
chocolate, coffee and cards - Summer Days
dis digi designs - Summer fun

 

Sunday 6 July 2014

a little hedgie and a bit of news

Hello there.....thank you so much for visiting me today! Hope you've been having a lovely weekend. Enjoying a fairly quite weekend, just a bit of food shopping and putting the mower around the garden yesterday, tidied my craft desk a little....then decided to make a card and promptly untidied it, hehehe
 
This gorgeous PB Hedgie is, without a doubt, one of my fave stamps, and one that I always have a supply of all ready to colour.
Image coloured with promarkers
Papers: from a stack from The Works
Dies: Memory Box Fremont Crest and Joycraft flowers
Sentiment: fabby freebie from the even fabber Netty, that you can find here
General Stash: buttons.

I would like to enter this into these challenges:
aud sentiments - anything goes
i love promarkers - anything goes
a gem of a challenge - animals

Will be back tomorrow with a new Cutie Pie challenge, but for the couple of weeks things may be a little quiet from my end. On Monday week (14th) my hubby is going into hospital for major surgery, I think I shared this on here a while ago, anyway he has an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm. We were hoping that it could be repaired with keyhole surgery, but that wasn't deemed possible, so they're going in! We are expecting him to be in hospital for approx. 7-10 days, with the first 24-48hrs after the op, in ICU. As you can imagine, he has been extremely fearful about the whole thing, I have tried to remain more positive and supportive to do, but I guess that's easier to do when you're not the one going through it. A lot of his fears come from the fact that his father died from an AAA, with additional complications, but that was in an emergency situation and not a planned op. Anyway, I will update as and when I can xx